


Three Hitters

by decidueye



Category: Leverage
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-23
Updated: 2013-07-23
Packaged: 2017-12-21 04:15:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/895691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/decidueye/pseuds/decidueye
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p> <i>Chinese proverb: “One monk will shoulder two buckets of water; two monks will share the load. But add a third and no one will want to fetch the water.” Gift for Trappercreekd during the Leverageexchange of 2012 and winner of a 2012 Fulcrum Award.</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	Three Hitters

_Chinese proverb: “One monk will shoulder two buckets of water; two monks will share the load. But add a third and no one will want to fetch the water.”_

Eliot registered the heaviness in his limbs and the signs of concussion before he even opened his eyes, the memory of a syringe jabbing into the base of his neck and unfamiliar laughter filling his mind, harsh and disjointed with his headache. He took a deep breath before cracking open his eyelids, taking note of red sandstone walls and an intense feeling of claustrophobia.

“We’re in Timna Valley.” A heavily accented voice sounded next to him, and he turned to see Mikel Dayan, head resting partially on his shoulder (no wonder the weight had been heavier on that side). She pulled herself further upright at his quirked eyebrow, “What? It’s a very distinctive form of sandstone. No doubt they’ve put us in the mines; those lanterns are left over from the excavations.” Eliot merely nodded at her reply, concentrating more on remembering why he was with her in the first place.

_”To old enemies.” Quinn huddled with Eliot around a dusty Israeli bar, alcohol of questionable origin in both of their hands. They drank and did their best not to cough, each staring each other down as though they were still fighting. The pair had taken off together after the job with Dubenich: Nate had told the team to take some time to breathe and working with Quinn had made Eliot miss the way hitters understood each other._

_“And new friends?” Mikel’s voice was unmistakeable, and Eliot couldn’t prevent the slight build-up of satisfaction he felt when Quinn’s jaw dropped as tanned, defined arms wrapped around Eliot’s shoulder, taking the last of his drink without a moment’s hesitation. Eliot made an effort to look disgruntled, sending a glare her way as she pulled up a seat to join them, but there was no real heat behind it, and she shot him a knowing look and a smile in return, “Hello, Spencer.”_

_“Mikel.” Eliot replied, and Quinn stuttered._

_“As in Dayan? You have quite the reputation.” The other hitter looked between them, visibly caught off guard, “How do you two, ah…?” Eliot let out a sound somewhere between a laugh and a cough, and Mikel merely raised an eyebrow._

_“We had a thing.” Came Eliot’s blunt response, and Quinn nodded mutely._

They had left the bar three hours later, a little more intoxicated than Eliot would have liked, and the rest of the events remained blurred. Vision adjusting to the darkness, Eliot noticed Quinn’s prone figure lying on the opposite side of the cave, and he frowned.

“How could they take us?” He asked, discontent. Speaking immodestly, the three of them together ought to be unstoppable, “It doesn’t make any sense.”

“Not everything can be explained.” She began, before bluntly correcting herself, “We were drunk.” Mikel leaned back on her arms, attempting to push herself into a standing position, but her muscles quivered and quickly gave out. She let out a bark of surprise, only just managing to catch herself as she fell, and the noise roused Quinn, who groaned, opening his eyes and sighing without moving.

“Hello, cave.” He spoke to the ceiling, tone nonchalant, “Well, this doesn’t half remind me of Budapest.”

“Now would be a good time to be making sense, Mr Quinn.” Mikel spoke derisively from where she had landed, dragging herself towards the nearest wall for support. Quinn turned his head slightly, clearly going through the same motions as Eliot had on discovering that he wasn’t alone, before sitting up and raising a hand to his head in consternation.

“Ms Dayan. It’s a pleasure, again. I’ll probably count this as our first official meeting, considering I don’t remember much of the last time.” Eliot rolled his eyes; three of the best hitters in an enclosed space and all they were capable of doing was making idle small talk.

“When Nate told us all to have three weeks’ vacation time, I’m pretty damn sure this wasn’t what he had in mind.” He muttered, carefully stretching out his legs and clenching his fists in an effort to test his motor function. Now slumped against the sandstone wall opposite him, Mikel scoffed.

“Well, it’s a good thing your Mr Ford is not responsible for all of us, then, isn’t it?” She bit back, patronising, “If we get out of this alive, at least only one of us is going to be grounded.” Eliot looked to Quinn – who was pulling himself with a small display of pride to his feet, fingers gripping the rock as his legs wobbled – for support. The other hitter smiled.

“That ‘if’ sounds a little pessimistic to me, Dayan.” Quinn chided, “Of course we’ll be getting out of here. We’ve only been beaten, drugged and left paralysed in the middle of the desert – don’t tell me we haven’t all gotten out of worse situations? Unless, of course, you were trying to get some ‘last-day-on-earth passion from Spencer over there. In which case, don’t mind me!” Mikel snarled, and Quinn took a step back, legs giving way slightly but managing to regain his balance. “See? Things are looking up already; looks like the dosage wasn’t as high as they needed.”

“It’s all very good you learning to walk,” Eliot interjected impatiently, “But that’s really not even close to getting us out of here.” Quinn shrugged.

“Can’t do much about that yet, I’m afraid.” He replied, “There’s nothing I can do whilst carrying two dead weights.”

Eliot scowled at the hitter, irritated at being called a ‘dead weight’ when they were all as useless as each other for the moment. In order to prove his point, he stretched his legs one more time before forcing himself into a crouching position, jaw clenching as he pulled himself up.

“We need a plan.” He spoke carefully, waiting for the spots in his vision to clear as Mikel followed the lead of the others, tentatively getting to her feet. She folded her arms, one eyebrow sceptically raised.

“All we need to know is where the enemy is so that we can destroy them.” Eliot regarded her closely. Now that the haze of unconsciousness was vanishing, the spirit he remembered her so fondly for had returned. But it was misplaced: if their attackers had managed to take the three of them down once, they certainly could again, especially with themselves still vulnerable and with no solid strategy driving the escape attempt.

“How about we just try walking, first?” He suggested, “Whoever they are, if they have enough local knowledge to dump us here they’re not going to be dumb enough to set up camp in the middle of the desert.”

“Finding a way out would be half the battle – we can take them once we’ve regained our strength,” Quinn agreed, “Not to mention, if we don’t keep moving the circulation in our muscles might cut out again.”

Mikel had turned her back to them, and Eliot frowned, thinking that she hadn’t been listening until she stepped aside to reveal a narrow gap in the cave wall.

“Miners would build these galleries to follow the ore,” Mikel explained, gesturing to the passageway, “And they’d only widen them into this sort of structure when they found something. Following the galleries should lead us to where they first began digging the mine.”

“Or I could, you know, take us deeper inside and we could be trapped forever.” Quinn pointed out cheerfully, “I’m impressed at your tour guide knowledge though; how do you know all this?”

“Trips into Solomon’s mines were very common for members of the Mossad.” she responded bluntly, refusing to elaborate as she stepped into the narrow passageway, “Now stay close to me: there isn’t much space, not everywhere will be so well lit and I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that an ancient hole in the ground is not the safest place to be stumbling around in the dark.”

Eliot quickly slipped in after her, Quinn close behind. Startled by the blackness they were plunged into, Eliot instinctively reached out in front of him, catching his fingers around Mikel’s hip before grasping the tail of her blouse. Behind him, Quinn made a startled noise as he tripped, palms landing briefly on his back as the hitter regained his balance before the weight lifted, Eliot resuming his efforts to keep up with Mikel’s strong, confident pace.

They had been walking for some time when the gallery finally began to widen and the hitters found themselves in another heavily mined area, the dim lighting making Eliot sight with relief. Mikel took stopped short of taking another step when her foot slipped slightly, revealing a steep drop that separated them from the next passageway. Eliot and Quinn moved to stand beside her, Quinn kneeling to peer into the darkness.

“Well, this complicates matters.” He commented, reaching a hand down and waving it blindly, “Think the drop’s short enough for us to jump? We could climb up the other side…” Eliot scowled.

“You crazy? Jumping into something we can’t see does _not_ sound like a good plan. We could break our legs, or worse. And we don’t know what’s down there.” He folded his arms, analysing the gap to see if there was some other way to move across and not catching Mikel’s laugh at his side.

“Don’t you boys know how to climb?” She asked condescendingly, swinging herself over the ledge without hesitation. Quinn and Eliot exchanged glances, Quinn mouthing ‘ _how did you manage to get with her?’_ as Mikel disappeared from view. Eliot bent to listen, and the sound of her measured breathing soon faded away. His jaw tensed, still protective despite knowing her capabilities.

“It’s not far.” Mikel’s voice eventually echoed back to them, “A few feet or so. If you jump, I can catch you.”

“How are you meant to catch us?” Quinn asked incredulously, “We must weigh twice what you do. And it’s pitch black.”

There was a pause.

“Pussy. It’s not so dark down here.” Mikel’s smug tone carried through the mine, and Eliot shrugged at Quinn before readying himself to jump.

“I’m coming down on three.” He called, “One…two…”

The fall really wasn’t far, but the speed and weight of him caused him to crash into where Mikel was waiting for him. Strong arms enclosed him to balance them both, and Eliot found himself nose to nose with the woman, a teasing grin on her face when he laughed, somewhat nervously.

“Right. I’ll get Quinn.” He muttered, and she let go. Quinn was much lighter than anticipated, but he squeaked on the way down, and Eliot made a mental note to file the story away for future ribbing.

“Give me a leg up.” Quinn deliberately ignored Eliot’s scheming expression, instead gauging the height of the wall and the jump he would need to make. The man moved swiftly, taking a brief run up and bouncing lightly off Eliot’s support to gain the height he needed.

“I can grab the next person and help them up,” he yelled down, “But you’ll still need the boost.”

Mikel and Eliot turned to each other, the same thought on their mind. Eliot spoke first.

“No way am I letting you go first; you’ll ditch me.”

“Where’s your sense of chivalry? I’m sure it’s ‘Ladies First’ in your country, isn’t it?”

“You can climb, Spider-monkey!”

Mikel’s arms folded at the nickname, and Eliot swallowed thickly. He was prepared for the first strike, raising his arms to block but still finding himself smacked against the back wall. Quinn’s confused cries faded into the background as Eliot continued to block Mikel’s barrage of attacks, ducking so that he could sweep his feet around the back of her knees, causing her to lose balance. The fight was unglamorous and inelegant, fuelled more by frustration and anger at other forces than anything else, but when Eliot dropped Mikel with a violent throw, the mine still rumbled. Everything came to an abrupt halt as the hitters paused to listen. Eliot’s hand went to grab Mikel’s arm subconsciously, ready to move her should anything begin to fall.

“Look.” Quinn’s voice came from above them, and Eliot thought, strangely, of a deity threatening death in an effort to counsel them. “We’re tired, and sick of this, and you two obviously have some resolved-but-not-quite-enough-yet sexual tension going on. You can sort out all of this _afterwards_. For now, just get the hell up here so we can get the hell out.”

Mikel gestured with her head towards the wall, kneeling and locking her fingers together.

“You’re right, I can climb.” She said, and Eliot hesitated.

“You should go first.”

“And then what would you do? Just go.” Eliot paused one more time before nodding, calling a warning to Quinn before jumping from Mikel’s hands. Quinn grabbed his wrist just in time, and it was only a short time after they had finished pulling him up that Mikel’s head appeared over the drop. She pushed herself to her feet and brushed the dust from her shirt before heading to the next gallery.

“It shouldn’t be far now.” She said, closing her eyes and motioning for the others to come closer, “Feel that?” A light breeze, however thin in the desert climate, grazed their faces. Quinn laughed.

“Is that air…fresh?”

“This is the last pathway.” Mikel explained, “It will take us straight to where they first began digging. Timna is a popular tourist destination, so we’ll be able to merge with the crowd.”

“We need water to get this all out of our system.” Eliot spoke carefully, “And time to recover.”

“We have that. But only a short time. Payback interests me more right now.”

“And if we leave it too long, whoever is responsible for this might notice our escape and get away.” Quinn put in, frowning. Eliot scoffed.

“From the three of us? Individually, there wouldn’t be a place in the country they could hide. Together, there’s not a place in the world.” 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> cross posted from the leverage exchange community on livejournal


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